Sensory Marketing the Multi-sensory Brand-experience Concept

European Busi ness Review Review Sensory marketing: the multi-sensory multi-sensory brand-experience concept Bertil Hultén

Ar t i c l e in f or mat i o n: ) T P ( 5 1 0 2 y r a u r b e F 6 0 0 5 : 9 0 t A I H C N A R T N E M E G A N A M F O E T U T I T S N I N A I D N I y b d e d a o l n w o D

To cite this document: Bertil Hultén, (2011),"Sensory (2011),"Sensory marketing: the multi-sensory brand-experience brand-experience concept", European Business Review, Vol. 23 Iss 3 pp. 256 - 273 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09555341111130245

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Sensory marketing: the multi-sensory brand-experience concept

256 ) T P ( 5 1 0 2 y r a u r b e F 6 0 0 5 : 9 0 t A I H C N A R T N E M E G A N A M F O E T U T I T S N I N A I D N I y b d e d a o l n w o D

Bertil Hulteń Kalmar University, Kalmar, Sweden

Received Octobe Received Octoberr 2009 Revised December 2009 Accepted Accept ed March 2010

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the multi-sensory brand-experience concept in relation to the human mind and senses. It also seeks to propose a sensory marketing (SM) model of the multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis. Design/methodology/approach – This paper applies exploratory and explanatory approaches to invest inv estiga igating ting the mult multi-s i-sens ensory ory bra brand-e nd-exper xperien ience ce conc concept ept wit within hin the cont context ext of dis discov covery ery.. The qualitative qualita tive study is built on primary and second secondary ary data sourc sources, es, including personal interviews interviews with experts and managers. multi-sensory brand-experience brand-experience hypothesis suggests that firms should apply sensorial Findings – The multi-sensory strategies and three explanatory levels within an SM model. It allows firms through means as sensors, sensations, and sensory expressions to differentiate and position a brand in the human mind as image. theore oretic tical al impl implicat ication ion is that the mul multi-s ti-sens ensory ory Research limitations/implications – A the bran br and-e d-expe xperi rien ence ce hyp hypoth othes esis is em empha phasi size zess th thee si sign gnifi ifican cance ce of th thee hu human man min mind d an and d se sens nses es in value-generat value-g enerating ing proce processes. sses. Another theore theoretical tical implication is that the hypothe hypothesis sis illust illustrates rates the shortcomings shortc omings of the transaction and relati relationship onship marketing models in conside considering ring the multi-s multi-sensory ensory brand-experience concept. It is worth conducting additional research on the multi-sensory interplay between the human senses in value-generating processes. Practical implications – The findings offer additional insights to managers on the multi-sensory brandbra nd-exp experi erienc encee con concep cept. t. Thi Thiss res resear earch ch open openss up opp opport ortunit unities ies for mana manager gerss to ide identi ntify fy emotional/psychological linkages in differentiating, distinguishing and positioning a brand as an image in the human mind. Originality/value – The main contribution of this research lies in developing the multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis within a SM model. It fills a major gap in the marketing literature and research in stressing the need to rethink conventional marketing models. Keywords Sensory perception, Brands, Marketing models Paper type Research paper

European Business Review Vol. 23 No. 3, 2011 pp. 256-273 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0955-534X DOI 10.1108/09555341111130245

Introduction In the curr current ent mar market keting ing and man managem agement ent lit literat erature, ure, a ser servic vicee log logic ic emp emphasi hasizes zes ¨ customers custome rs as co-produ co-producers cers of servic servicee processes (Eiglier and Langeard, 1976; Gronroos, 1982)) and crea 1982 creators tors of val value ue for the themse mselve lves, s, acc accordi ording ng to the valu value-i e-in-u n-use se not notion ion (Wood (W oodruf rufff and Gar Gardi dial al,, 199 1996; 6; No Norm rmann ann,, 200 2001; 1; Va Vargo rgo and Lus Lusch ch,, 200 2004) 4).. Am Among ong researchers, services are also seen as a form of value creation and not merely as an activity (Edvardsson et al., 2005). Moreover, a service logic is based on the notion that cust cu stome omers rs us usee al alll ty type pess of re resou sourc rces, es, in incl clud udin ing g go goods ods and se serv rvice ices, s, as se servi rvice cess gi give ve th them em valu va luee an and d ser servi vice ce pr proc oces esse sess are of an in inte terac racti tive ve ch chara aract cter er in sup suppo porti rting ng value-generating processes (Gro¨nroos and Ravald, 2009).

) T P ( 5 1 0 2 y r a u r b e F 6 0 0 5 : 9 0 t A I H C N A R T N E M E G A N A M F O E T U T I T S N I N A I D N I y b d e d a o l n w o D

In pursuing a service perspective, firms should be seen as value facilitators, providing different kinds of resources to customer consumption, and value-generating processes. It has been suggested that a firm should use its interactions with customers in influencing the value creation processes (Gro¨nroos, 2006). In these processes, different interactions impact on the nature and types of value that customers perceive in terms of interactive, relativistic, preferential, or experience values, as well as self-oriented or other-oriented values (Holbrook, 1999). Furthermore, in terms of service logic, a firm should support customers in their daily activities and processes by providing goods, services, hidden services, information, and so on, as long as this generates value to customers (Gro¨nroos, 2008). In this study, it is assumed that the value of service, as a brand image, emerges when interactions occur through the customer’s sensory experiences in the value-generating processes. This image is based on how customers perceive and experience service and the process in reality. The customer’s feelings and thoughts about the service, including both goods- and service components, as well as other elements, contribute to an image in the customer’s mind that is synonymous with the brand (Gro¨nroos, 2008). This is in accordance with the notion of experiential marketing from Holbrook and Hirschmann (1982) and Schmitt (1999), in which contexts, aesthetics, emotions, and symbolic aspects of customer experiences are significant. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the multi-sensory brand-experience concept in relation to the human mind and senses – smell, sound, sight, taste, and touch – in generating customer value, experiences, and image. Drawing on both theories relating to branding and experiences, as well as value creation andthe human senses, the paper presents the multi-sensory brand-experience concept. I, then discuss and illustrate empirically the multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis within a sensory marketing SM model. I have structured the article in the following way: first, I present the theoretical basis and conceptualizations of branding, experiences, and value creation in relation to the five human senses. Second, I discuss the chosen methodology in applying exploratory and explanatory approaches in a qualitative study. Third, I present the multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis within a SM model and context. Finally, I discuss the contribution of the article together with the theoretical and managerial implications, the limitations of the study and future research opportunities.

Branding and experiences In the branding literature, the concept of brand identity is defined as a unique set of brand associations that a firm can create or maintain. It may involve a value-proposition with functional, emotional or self-expressive benefits. It does not matter whether the associations are tangible or emotional/symbolic or both (Anselm and Kostelijk, 2008). The emotional linkage between brand and consumer has been proposed as important in building strong brands. It has also been confirmed in research that consumers look for and buy emotional experiences around what has been bought and no longer buy products and services alone (Brembeck and Ekstro¨m, 2004; Ratneshwar and Mick, 2005). In the academic debate on emotional branding, there seems to be a tendency to focus more on tangibles (product brands) than intangibles (services brands). However, emotional branding seems more obvious in the context of services or intangibles, with their intimate nature and where the customer is often more personally involved

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(Pullman and Gross, 2004). Most services marketers have ignored this issue (Morrison and Crane, 2007), despite the fact that the emotional experience associated with a services brand seems to be as important as the service itself (Crane et al., 2007). In the services marketing literature, a number of theorists propose that, in order to maintain customer loyalty to a services brand, it should be transformed from a services product into an experience product (Pullman and Gross, 2004). Furthermore, the environmental context in which the service encounter takes place is significant in creating emotional connections. This includes the physical and relational characteristics of the setting in which the service is consumed, as well as the elements with which the customer interacts in the setting (Gupta and Vajic, 1999). In the physical context, stimuli appear to be generated by the sights, sounds, textures, and smells of the environment and, in the relational context, stimuli emanate from people and their behavior (Carbone and Haeckel, 1994). In the marketing literature, the concepts of customer experience and customer experience management are increasingly gaining attention. Pine and Gilmore (1999) point out the significance of the customer in understanding what an experience is all about. An experience is said to occur when a firm intentionally constructs one, in order to engage customers. However, Klaus and Maklan (2007) claim that a firm has no choice as to whether or not to be connected to customer experiences. All communication, consumption experiences, and customer contacts inevitably create an experience in the customer’s mind (Homburg et al., 2005). The experiential perspective of consumption experiences originates from Holbrook and Hirschmann (1982) and Hirschmann and Holbrook (1982). Below is a definition of experience from Holbrook (1999, pp. 8-9): Finally, by experience, I mean that consumer value resides not in the product purchased, not in the brand chosen, not in the object possessed, but rather in the consumption experience(s) derived therefrom [. . .] In essence, the argument in this direction boils down to the proposition that all products provide services in their capacity to create need- or want-satisfying experiences [. . .] In this sense, all marketing is “services marketing.” This places the role of experience at a central position in the creation of consumer value.

Especially, in experiential consumption research, emotions and contextual, symbolic and non-utilitarian aspects of consumption (Arnould and Thompson, 2005) are emphasized. In this study, a sensory experience is defined as an individual’s perception of goods or services or other elements in a service process as an image that challenges the human mind and senses. Brakus et al. (2009) distinguish between product experiences, shopping, and service experiences, as well as consumption experiences, concluding that all such experiences impact directly or indirectly on consumers. Schmitt (1999) suggests acting, feeling, relating, sensing, and thinking as customer experiences. In the brand-management domain, little attention has been paid to concepts such as customer value and experiences, in terms of understanding the creation of a brand as an image (Payne et al., 2009). Yet, de Chernatony et al. (2006) discuss the customer experience as central, not only for services, but also for brands. Brand relationships and customer experiences are also essential research areas for further development of the domain (Keller and Lehmann, 2006), and both branding and brand equity “ seem ripe for revision” (Arnould etal., 2006). In this research, the significance of the five human senses in creating the multi-sensory brand-experience is related to customer value, experiences, and brand as image.


Value creation and human senses The service logic proposes that a supplier should start with the customer’s value creation processes and try to analyze what process the supplier has the capability to support. The value-in-use notion (Woodruff and Gardial, 1996; Normann, 2001; Gro¨nroos, 2006) suggests that value for customers is created when they use products, goods or services. Gummesson (1998, p. 247) argues that “value creation is only possible when a good or a service is consumed”. It seems that this notion of value creation is dominant, stating that value is created for customers “in their value-creating processes” on a daily basis (Gro¨nroos, 2006). Gro¨nroos (2008) makes a further distinction, stating that customers are value-creators, and suppliers are value facilitators developing value propositions. In this regard, customers are seen as “ sole-creators” of value, and suppliers create the resources, in order to let the customer’s create value on their own, in their value-generating processes (Gro¨nroos, 2008). In this study, the multi-sensory brand-experience is related to the five human senses, so often neglected in the marketing literature, despite their importance in generating customer value, sensory experiences, and the brand as an image. Academic research has shown that different sensory impressions impact consumer behavior and perceptions of goods and services. Empirical studies relating to sight impressions have been discussed by, for instance, Orth and Malkewitz (2008) and Smith and Burns (1996). The sense of sight is the most powerful one for discovering changes and differences in the environment and is the most common sense in perceiving goods or services. Impressions of sound have been analyzed empirically by Garlin and Owen (2006), Sweeney and Wyber (2002). The sense of sound is linked to emotions and feelings and the sense impacts brand experiences and interpretations. Impressions of smell have been discussed by Goldkuhl and Styfve´ n (2007) and Fiore et al. (2000). The sense of smell is related to pleasure and well-being and is closely connected to emotions and memories. Taste impressions have been analyzed empirically by Biedekarken and Henneberg (2006) and Klosse et al. (2004). The sense of taste is the most distinct emotional sense and often interacts with other senses. Finally, touch impressions have been discussed by Peck and Wiggins (2006) and Citrin et al. (2003), among others. The sense of touch is the tactile one, related to information and feelings about a product through physical and psychological interactions. A multi-sensory brand-experience takes place when more than one of the five senses contributes to the perception of sensory experiences (Hulteń etal., 2009). The following is a definition of a multi-sensory brandexperience: a multi-sensory brand-experience supports individual value creation and refers to how individuals react when a firm interacts, and supports their purchase and consumption processes through the involvement of the five human senses in generating customer value, experiences, and brand as image. In studying sensory, emotional, and cognitive processes of the human brain, two empirical studies show that vision, for example, can interact with such senses as hearing, touch, and olfaction (Thesen et al., 2004). Another study has demonstrated that various techniques identify multisensory convergence zones in the human brain, indicating that “[. . .] one sense can be affected by relations with other senses” (Driver and Noesselt, 2008). The sensory, emotional, and cognitive processes of the human brain are also related to neuromarketing, an emerging research field explaining and enhancing our

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understanding of consumer behavior, for instance, how different brain areas are involved in advertising (Fugate, 2007; Plassman et al., 2007).

Methodology In the presented research, the context of discovery is appropriate, in that the hypothesis concerning the multi-sensory brand experience and subsequent SM model lays the ground for deductive generalizations (Hunt, 2002). For this reason, the paper applies an explorative, as well as an explanatory approach in investigating the multi-sensory brand-experience concept. The combination of two approaches has proven a fruitful way to explore and explain this research domain. Adopting an explorative approach in the first stage of the research facilitated an investigation of a research domain that had been relatively unexplored. The important factors were essentially unknown and could not be defined precisely, resulting in the research question: at the beginning of the twenty-first century, why are firms once again focusing on the human senses in marketing? In the second stage of the research, an explanatory approach was adopted in relation to the research question. As a scientific answer explanations, should often be connected to “ why” questions. It is clear that an explanatory approach offers opportunities to develop a model that can explain a current phenomenon in a scientific way (Hunt, 2002, p. 86). In both the exploratory and explanatory stages of the present work, the research process was of an iterative character, allowing the researcher to work back and forth between data and theory. In the exploratory stage, it was not possible to define exactly what concepts to look for in advance. No evidence or support was provided by transaction marketing (TM), relationship marketing (RM) or indeed any other marketing theories, to explain the concept of multi-sensory brand-experience. The alternative was to search for psychological and sociological theories that enabled an investigation of unconventional aspects of marketing. In this research, the combination of field data collection and analysis, together with theoretical conceptualizations, was appropriate for developing a model that could explain the multi-sensory brand-experience concept. The qualitative study is built on a number of primary and secondary information sources. In the explorative stage, secondary data was collected from sources such as articles, books, business magazines, reports and other sources from libraries, databases or web sites. A great deal of information was found, but the significance of the five human senses for the multi-sensory brand-experience concept was conspicuously absent. This led to the formulation of the research question. In the explanatory stage, primary data was collected, including in-depth, open-ended,and semi-structured interviews with experts and managers, in such American and European companies and organizations as Abercrombie & Fitch, Apollo, Gina Tricot, ICA Ahold, Ice Hotel, Lindex, Saab Automobile, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Starbucks, Volvo Car, Whole Foods, and Culinary Arts and Meal Science at Orebro University, among others. A judgment sampling was chosen, based on the respondent’s practical experiences of the multi-sensory brand-experience concept. A questionnaire was prepared before each interview, with unstructured responses, and this questionnaire was reworked and augmented as the study progressed. The overall aim of the study structure was to explain the multi-sensory brand-experience concept in a SM model and context. An additional objective was to clarify and illustrate the key explanatory levels of how a firm might facilitate the multi-sensory brand-experience. These levels govern the empirical illustrations

of the study. The multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis, as well as the interpretation and concluding discussions, have been organized accordingly.


Theoretical assumptions When it comes to the theoretical framework, it is essential to recognize the impact on customer value of changing value systems in contemporary society, experiences, and the brand as an image. The culture and zeitgeist of society is often seen as contradictory and paradoxical in its content and meaning (Powell, 1998). It consists of both rational and emotional elements, as well as attributes like creativity, intuition, speculation, spontaneity, and feelings (Brown, 1993). The ongoing value shift from a collectivist view to a more individualist view of everyday life emphasizes self-expression and quality of life (Firat and Schultz, 1997). Research has shown that generations born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s have questioned modern values and replaced them with post-modern values in everyday and working life (Inglehart, 1997; Howard and Mason, 2001). The assumption made in this paper is that, as a lifestyle, individualization expresses the culture and zeitgeist of contemporary society through three personal driving forces. The first one, image building , is linked to the consumption of brands and experiences, which give individuals an opportunity to create their own unique identity and image. As long as consumption is oriented towards symbolic content and meaning, it corresponds to the production of images of the self (Firat and Venkatesh, 1995). The second one, self-fulfillment , is linked to quality of life and welfare, in terms of changing consumption patterns. The ongoing shift to more qualified consumption is evident in services associated with culture, entertainment, health, medical care, education, or recreation. The transition from low-value to high-value service activities emphasizes the importance of the personal value of the experience, and service-related time use emphasizes the self and self-fulfillment (Gershuny, 2000). The third one, sensory experience, is linked to an individual’s striving for identity and image, as well as for self-fulfillment. In this regard, individualization is dependent on cognitive, emotional and value-based elements,whichexplain why most individuals should be seen as active, participative, and creative actors. This means that goods or services, not only in a physical or functional sense, but also in an emotional sense, should conform to an individual’s personal and social-life context (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000). In presenting the multi-sensory brand-experience concept, the identification of individualization as lifestyle is crucial. This focuses on the significance of the human mind and senses, and how they are applied in marketing-management practice. The process also rises following question: how is it possible for a company to delve deeper into the customer’s mind and treat the customer in a more personal way through differentiating and expressing a brand? This question is closely related to theories on TM and RM and some of the key characteristics are summarized in Table I. Since the 1950s, marketing models covering the marketing process for consumers, business, non-profit, goods, or services have been developed (Christopher et al., 1991). In terms of TM and the marketing mix, the TM-model is based on microeconomic theory and behavioral theory of the firm, from an exchange perspective. The model is based on goods logic, where the individual is seen as a consumer with average needs in a mass-market context, in which advertising is a major tool in appealing to the market (Gro¨nroos, 2000). The model is built around acquiring customers,

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TM Marketing


Table I. From transaction and relationship to SM

Goods logic Exchange perspective TM Strategic marketing Product focus Customer acquisition Transactional strategies Tactical marketing Persuasion and promotion One-way communication Production technology

RM

SM

Service logic Relationship perspective RM Customer focus Customer retention Relational strategies Interaction and interplay

Experiential logic Brand perspective SM Mind and sense focus Customer treatment Sensorial strategies Dialogue and on-line interactivity Multi-sensory communication Digital technology

Two-way communication Information technology

Source: Developed from Hulte´ n et al. (2009)

short-term exchanges, and single transactions between an active seller and a passive buyer (Brodie et al., 1997). The RM-model is more sophisticated, in terms of RM based on interaction and network theories and social exchange theories. The model modifies the shortcomings and simplicity of the TM-model, by focusing on interactions, networks, and relationships between an active and adaptive seller and buyer (Gummesson, 1999). Moreover, the model is based on a service logic in which the individual is a customer within a relationship perspective. The model is built around customer retention, long-term relationships, two-way communication and personal interactions (Gro¨nroos, 2006), emphasizing a customer-centric view with relationship handling in the focus of a firm’s marketing strategy and tactics (El-Ansary, 2005). Moreover, it is assumed here that the RM-model, through the use of customer relationship management and customer-specific marketing, has de-personalized marketing further, instead of getting closer to the customer’s mind and senses. In applying these technologies, firms have attempted to build long-term customer relationships, based on a technically more advanced approach than a personal approach, one that has aroused criticism (O’Malley and Tynan, 2000). Furthermore, the two models offer limited opportunities to depict the marketing process of the multi-sensory brand-experience and follow certain logics. In other words, in the TM-model, the good is dominant, and in the RM-model, the service dominates as a support for customer processes. Neither model considers the marketing process of either brand as image, or sensory experiences and what this entails. One weakness is that no discussion or insights are offered with regard to which means or tools managers can use in facilitating the multi-sensory brand-experience. Inspired by Gro¨nroos (2009) and his discussion about the importance of service, where service is seen as a mediating variable for value creation, the presented model attempts to remedy these shortcomings.

The nature of sensory marketing A SM model (SM) takes its point of departure in the human mind and senses, where mental flows, processes and psychological reactions take place and result in a multi-sensory brand-experience. An individual’s personal and subjective interpretation and understanding of a multi-sensory brand-experience is referred to here as


experiential logic. This means that, for each individual, the logic contributes to forming behavioral, emotional, cognitive, sensory, or symbolic values (Holbrook, 1999; Schmitt, 1999). The experience becomes an image, forming the mental conceptions and perceptions of interactions and inputs in the service process, which constitutes the final outcome of the multi-sensory experience within a brand perspective. This perspective is defined here as an individual’s beliefs, feelings, thoughts, and opinions about a brand, based on the overall experience (Kotler, 2000; Brakus et al., 2009). In this paper, it is suggested that the SM-model differs from the TM and RM-models, through its emphasis on the multi-sensory brand-experience. In the latter two models, the good or service is emphasized, but not the multi-sensory brand-experience of goods or services or other elements within a brand perspective. The SM-model offers a firm the opportunity to differentiate and express a brand as image through sensorial strategies, including sensors, sensations, and sensory expressions, based on cognitive, emotional, or value-based elements in relation to the human mind and senses. This relates to how to position a product in the sense of “positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect” (Ries and Trout, 1982). The imprints a firm leaves, in order to distinguish and express itself, can then be related to a deeper, individual emotional level. Against this background, the multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis implies the need for a SM model highlighting the significance of the human senses in reaching the customer’s mind at a deeper level than the TM- and RM-models. In explaining why firms focus on the human senses, this present study identifies three explanatory levels within a SM model, i.e. sensorial strategies expressed through sensors, sensations, and sensory expressions. There is no doubt that the number of potential means is infinite at each level, indicating that the model allows ample choice in the marketing process. The number of explanatory levels has been limited to only three, in order to make a classification that facilitates the construction of the model. Furthermore, each level contains a number of choices with respect to offering multi-sensory brand-experiences in a SM model and context (Figure 1). The aim is to simplify the process, by grouping possible choices together into the three key explanatory levels of means. Moreover, the aim of the classification was to offer an exhaustive classification, when no other could be found in the marketing literature. A general assumption made here is that the three levels are, paradoxically, both related to and independent of each other. They can simultaneously occur jointly or independently of each other, but also be identified separately. Furthermore, at each level, different elements or factors as tools can be applied in the marketing process, allowing differentiation and variety. Finally, there is a mutual interdependence between different kinds of means, creating regularity in one or more patterns of SM performance in the marketing process. Sensorial strategies aim at differentiating and expressing a product, service or firm’s identity in relation to the human mind and senses. A strategy is defined as sensorial, when it appeals to a certain sense or senses in the customer’s mind. The reason for a firm to develop sensorial strategies is to distinguish a brand from competing ones, especially when such functional/rational attributes as price or quality are often the same. Hence, sensorial strategies are based more on emotional/psychological elements than functional attributes in clarifying a brand’s identity and values. The main purpose of sensorial strategies is to facilitate the multi-sensory brand-experience expressed

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Sensorial strategies in relation to the five human senses

Sensors


Scent sensors

Sound sensors

Sight sensors

Taste sensors

Touch sensors

Sensations Atmospheric

Auditory

Visual

Gastronomic

Tactile

Sensory expressions in relation to smell, sound, sight, taste and touch

The multi-sensory brand-experience

Figure 1. A SM model

Customer equity Source: Developed

´ et al. (2009) from Hulten

through means as sensors, sensations, and sensory expressions in relation to the five human senses (Table II). As an explanatory level, sensors aim at communicating sensations and sensory expressions that reinforce the multi-sensory brand experience for the customer. A sensor is definedas a communicative means, when it transmitssensations or sensory expressions (stimuli) or receives information (signals) via devices, equipment, material, or employees in relation to the customer. The reason for a firm to use sensors is to obtain a multi-sensory communication platform, including promotion, such as traditional advertising, in differentiating a brand. This reinforces the multi-sensory brand-experience on a daily basis in servicescapes, as well as in virtual settings. As an explanatory level, sensations aim at expressing a brand’s identity and values as something distinctive and sensorial, in facilitating the multi-sensory brand experience. A sensation is defined as an emotion or feeling that deliberately links the human mind and the senses. The reason for a firm to distinguish and express a good or service as a sensation, is to be observed by customers. This is especially relevant, since the human senses continually notice every small change in the environment, either as a threat


Sensors

Sensations

Sensory expressions

Smell sensors

Atmospheric

Sound sensors

Auditory

Sight sensors

Visual

Taste sensors

Gastronomic

Touch sensors

Tactile

Product congruence, intensity and sex Atmosphere, advertency and theme Scent brand and signature scent Jingle, voice and music Atmosphere, attentiveness and theme Signature sound and sound brand Design, packaging and style Color, light and theme Graphic, exterior and interior Interplay, symbiosis and synergies Name, presentation and environment Knowledge, lifestyle and delight Material and surface Temperature and weight Form and steadiness

Source: Developed from Hulte´ n et al. (2009)

or an opportunity. Another reason is the difficulty many brands have in attracting attention in the crowded, global marketplace.As an explanatory level, sensory expressions aim at characterizing a brand’s identity and uniqueness in relation to each of the five senses. A sensory expression is defined as an experience trigger that clarifies a brand’s identity and values and leaves an imprint in the customer’s mind. The main reason for a firm to apply sensory expressions is to be closer and more deeply imprinted in the customer’s mind in terms of an image.

Discussion: the findings and the multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis The presented SM model for governing the multi-sensory brand-experience derives some of its theoretical origin from the experiential consumption concept of Holbrook and Hirschmann (1982), consumer value from Holbrook (1999) and experiential marketing from Schmitt (1999). The multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis suggests that firms should apply sensorial strategies expressed through sensors, sensations, and sensory expressions in relation to the human mind and senses. The findings show that, in order to differentiate and distinguish a brand and express its identity, these sensorial strategies, sensors, sensations and sensory expressions are used more as a long-term strategy, rather than as a short-term business tactic. As a marketing manager expressed it in an interview: Yes, we definitely believe in the senses [. . .] We tried a business with selling online, but that really destroyed everything we were trying to do – you can’t touch it, or smell it, or see it. You arejust relyingon pictures. It didn’t reallyworkfor us, so we are not going downthatroadagain.

Sensorial strategies for smell, sound, sight, taste, and touch have been recognized by the studied companies. Especially, a sight strategy is considered as one of the most significant ones in expressing a brand’s identity and value. A CEO of a fashion chain expressed it as follows: What the eyes see is extremely important. I would say that the eyes do 70 or 80 percent of the buying. This is enormously important to bear in mind.

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Table II. Sensors, sensations and sensory expressions

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This philosophy has permeated all the elements that might be included in a sensory experience of the brand. The colors black and white are used in all stores, as well as other marketing channels and the lighting has to be strong in order to make the stores visible from outside. Design, packaging and style can be seen as the ultimate sensory expression of individualization in differentiating a brand’s soft values. A challenge for many industries is to let high-tech products become more “human”, and the Finnish producer of mobile phones, Nokia, illustrates just this: Nokia has chosen to design itsphones with soft values in mind in order to appealto humansenses. The main rationale has been to move away from the hard values that technology conventionally stands for. This has been a way to make the mobile phones more user-friendly by giving each product an identity and soul. Nokia’s big screen and soft buttons have been designed for this purpose and the ability to change the colour of a phone suggests increased individualization.

A sight strategy also emphasizes the significance of such sensory expressions as color, light, and theme, as well as graphics, exterior, and interior. All are emphasized in visualizing a brand’s identity and values. A sensorial smell strategy is applied to allow a scent to become an element of a brand’s identity and image. Scents contribute to creating memory pictures, a positive atmosphere and wellbeing among both customers and employees. Removing unpleasant smells from the interior of a car to make it more pleasant to get into and use was described in an interview with the Volvo marketing department in Gothenburg, Sweden: We put a lot of effort into making the car smell good when one enters it. The new S80 and all of our other cars are adapted for allergenic environments. The S80 is recommended by the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association. When the car is opened with the hand control, the air is sucked out, as there is otherwise always an accumulation of the smell of plastic. This indicates the development work in this area, which is quite enormous.

Other motives for a smell strategy are to accomplish a positive smell experience and impact on customers’ emotional state and mood. A scent experience can also lend a natural connection to a brand through sensory expressions like product congruency and the intensity of a scent. Scents can also improve the recognition and recall of a brand through such sensory expressions as signature scents or a scent brand. A sensorial sound strategy is used to reinforce the identity and image of a brand. Sound, and especially music, as sensory expressions, attach meaning to people and is a source of inspiration. Music from a man’s or a woman’s youth are often used to create memories. The American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch illustrates a sound strategy: The signature sound at Abercrombie & Fitch is expressed through famous songs which have been mixed to create the right atmosphere in the service landscape. A heavy bass is represented in every song characterizes the firm’s music. The music played is very loud and gives the impression of a night club. The songs are mixed to build up expectation that something more is under way. There are no gaps between the tracks and therefore the tempo level and sound pressure are constant in the store. Customers like the music and many dance in time to it. Employees also dance, which gives the relaxed feeling of party and of “living it up”.

As sensory experiences, jingles and voices also contribute to the sound experience of a brand. How the Swedish retail fashion Lindex uses jingles and TV commercials to reinforce the image of the brand was expressed in an interview:

We adjust it depending on the season and the jingle was adapted to the current theme and season. When the seasonal theme “Fashion Report Paris” was relevant at a certain time, an accordion sound was added to the jingle to create the feeling of Paris. The accordion sound was so subtle that customers had to focus carefully to notice it. Other than these seasonal variations, the jingle was consistent.


A sensorial sound strategy also emphasizes the significance of such sensory expressions as atmosphere, theme, and attentiveness, often used in creating a sound experience. Sound can also be protected legally as a sound brand and used as a signature sound with a distinct character. As a sensorial strategy, taste includes much more than the actual flavor and relates to such sensory expressions as interplay, symbiosis and synergy, emphasizing the significance of other senses. An expert in the area expressed this in an interview: Customers call it taste, but it is everything: how it looks, smells, feels, and sounds. All this, the customer more or less merges into the concept of “taste”.

For this reason, a taste strategy might be more related to the customer’s multi-sensory brand-experience, and a taste experience can include such other sensory expressions as scent, sound, design or texture, that build on the interplay and synergies between different senses. Moreover, former experiences in terms of brand image are essential for a taste strategy, so that it is not only the actual quality of a product that matters. This concept was illustrated by the following comment in an interview: You have other expectations of, for instance, Coca-Cola or Virgin. There are classic studies that directly show the importance of the experience. Simply because a brand is strong, a Coca Cola drinker, for example, perceives it as different from other colas. This is a perception that is, of course, used in marketing.

Also, sensory expressions such as name, presentation, and setting, as well as knowledge, delight, and lifestyle contribute to the taste experience of a brand’s image. A sensorial touch strategy aims at strengthening the identity and image of a brand through a physical and psychological interaction with customers. Touching products makes it easier to rememberthem simply by looking at them. IKEA in Norway illustrates a touch strategy: During the summer of 2007, the company let its customers stay the night. The aim was to create a touch experience of IKEA’S beds, at the same time as the actual features of the bed were experienced during a night’s sleep. The night stay was free, and the customers could choose between a basic dormitory, a family room, or a marriage chamber.

A touch experience is facilitated through such sensory expressions as material and surface, which the beds illustrate, but also through temperature and weight, form and stability. The importance of a brand being more accessible and enabling physical interactions with the customers in today’s digitized world was expressed in an interview with a retail concept manager: To be able to touch the garment is very important for individuals in stores in the fashion business. In this respect, I believe the physical stores have their main competitive weapon – if you compare them with e-commerce. “See it, feel it, try it, buy it”. Touch is very important.

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Tactile technology applied in servicescapes and virtual settings also result in user-friendliness for the customers. These findings support the notion that the multi-sensory brand-experience is built on the notionof providing a personaltouch, involving all five senses in the customer’s mind. The American retailer Whole Foods illustrates a multi-sensory brand-experience: In a sensorial smell strategy, the atmospheric sensations and their sensory expressions welcome customers to the servicescapes with a soft intensity and at the entrance, there is a bakery with an oven spreading product-congruence scents of newly-baked bread as smell sensors. No artificial scents are used and the natural scents from fruit and cheese offer smell experiences as sensors. In a sensorial sound strategy, auditory sensations and their sensory expressions appear as pop music with soft voices, through such sound sensors as stereos and loudspeakers and the choice of music, which make it possible to say that the company has a signature sound. In a sensorial sight strategy, visual sensations and their sensory expressions belong to the interior with light colors like olive-green and yellow on the walls. The lighting is comfortable, with spotlights as sights sensors aimed at special products, and style through colors and lighting expresses proximity to nature. Handwritten information as sensors, give the graphic feeling of a more personal sight experience. In a sensorial taste strategy, gastronomic sensations and their sensory expressions reinforce the taste experience through the interplay of other senses that allow synergies through staff who wear aprons as taste sensors, which emphasize a homely feeling and superb food. The company offers the presentation of real samples of tastes that are related to season and theme. This creates a setting where “food thinking” is part of the interior and invites customers to gain more knowledge, delight in and experience new tastes. Finally, in a sensorial touch strategy, tactile sensations and their sensory expressions invite customers to touch the products, because they are accessible in dishes or straw baskets that emphasize personal contact as touch sensors. No plastic material is used, and cold and hot foods are chosen by the customers themselves. There is a cheese room as a touch sensor with stable doors to keep the temperature at the right level for the taste experience.

The above illustration effectively summarizes the discussion and supports the multi-sensory brand-experience hypothesis. It is probably true, however, that the hypothesis should not, in all cases, include all five senses. This means that the hypothesis is also valid when only one or more of the senses are applied in a SM model. To sum up the findings, the studied companies emphasize the significance of the five human senses in being closer and more deeply imprinted in the customer’s mind, as an image within a brand perspective. The use of sensorial strategies can leave such imprints of a multi-sensory brand-experience, so that a brand becomes more individual and personal to the customer.

Conclusions, theoretical and managerial implications, and future research This paper examines the multi-sensory brand-experience concept, proposing both a hypothesis and a model. The article provides a theoretical and practical contribution on the multi-sensory brand-experience concept, and a SM model was developed through a methodology that yields new concepts and models. The main conclusion is that the SM-model highlights the significance of the multi-sensory brand-experience in differentiating, distinguishing and positioning a brand


in the human mind as an image. A firm can use sensorial strategies expressed through sensors,sensationsand sensory expressions in relation to thefive human senses in leaving imprints of a good or service. Through a value-generating process, the multi-sensory brand-experience offers behavioral, emotional, cognitive, sensorial, or symbolic value at a deeper, more internal level than the TM and RM models. In this regard, a smell, sound, vision, taste or touch can reinforce a positive feeling, following the experiential logic, that generates a certain value to the individual and, in particular, creates a brand image. An important theoretical implication is that the multi-sensory brand-experience is the ultimate outcome of a value-generating process between a supplier and a customer. The value to the customer is embedded in the multi-sensory brand-experience and the customer generatesthe value individually as a sole-creator in thehuman mind (Grro¨nroos,2006, 2008). Through this process, with its sensory imprints, a good or a service becomes the experience which is based on individual and personalized perceptions. It relates to defining the process in itself as a service to the customer (Gro¨nroos, 2006), in which sensorial strategies play an important role for a firm in facilitating the multi-sensory brand-experience. Another theoretical implication is that the multi-sensory brand-experience is central to branding, as a result of value creation and value-generating processes (de Chernatony and Segal-Horn, 2003; de Chernatony et al., 2006). So far, the branding literature has not taken into consideration the multi-sensory brand-experience and its impact on what constitutes a brand through the five senses, as an image in the human mind. It is possible to argue that the multi-sensory brand-experience should be the basis for brand building and brand identity in creating brand as image and loyalty. In managerial terms, the findings yield new insights into applying the multi-sensory brand-experience concept in practice. Its focus on the human mind and senses enables managers to identify emotional/psychological connections in differentiating and distinguishing a brand’s identity and values to customers. To date, these connections have been more or less limited to advertising and the sense of sight, but in a multi-sensory brand-experience, the senses of smell, sound, taste, and touch are also significant. A sensory manual covering the five human senses should be developed, in which sensorial strategies expressed through sensors, sensations, and sensory expressions as means, could be identified in providing a brand’s personal imprint to the customers. This can guide managers in buildingand establishing successful multi-sensory brand-experience relationships, in contrast to more conventional and limited brand relationships. Future research needs to be conducted on these issues, and the validity of the framework must be investigated further. Research is also required on developing appropriate measures for managing the multi-sensory brand-experience, concerning outcome and performance. Finally, it would be useful to conduct research on the multi-sensory interplay between the human senses in value-generating processes. It should be noted that research on the multi-sensory brand-experience concept is still in its infancy. This paper provides an exploratory overview of the multi-sensory brand-experience concept within a SM model, which questions conventional marketing models. References Anselm, K.J. and Kostelijk, E. (2008), “Identity based marketing: a new balanced marketing paradigm”, European Journal of Marketing , Vol. 42 Nos 9/10, pp. 907-14.

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Further reading Brodie, R.J., Glynn, M.S. and Little, V. (2006), “The service brand and the service-dominant logic: missing fundamental premise or the need for stronger theory”, Marketing Theory , Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 363-79. ) T P ( 5 1 0 2 y r a u r b e F 6 0 0 5 : 9 0 t A I H C N A R T N E M E G A N A M F O E T U T I T S N I N A I D N I y b d e d a o l n w o D

Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R. (2005), Blue Ocean Strategy , Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Pralahad, C.K. (2004), “The co-creation of value”, Journal of Marketing , Vol. 68 No. 1, pp. 14-28. Prahalad, C.K. and Ramasvamy, V. (2000), “Co-opting customer competence”, Harvard Business Review on CustomerRelationshipManagement , Harvard Business SchoolPress,Boston, MA. Prahalad, C.K. and Ramaswamy, V. (2004), The Future of Competition , Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Sheth, J.N. and Parvatiyar, A. (2000), Handbook of Relationship Marketing , Sage, London. Smit, E., Bronner, F. and Tolboom, M. (2007), “Brand relationship quality and its value for personal contact”, Journal of Business Research , Vol. 60, pp. 627-33. Vargo, S. and Lusch, R. (2006), “Service-dominant logic: what it is, what it is not, what it might be”, in Lusch, R.F. and Vargo, S.L. (Eds), The Service Dominant-Logic of Marketing: Dialog, Debate, and Directions, ME Sharpe, Armonk, NY, pp. 43-56. Vargo, S. and Morgan, F.W. (2005), “Services in society and academic thought: an historical analysis”, Journal of Macromarketing , Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 42-53.

Corresponding author Bertil Hulteń can be contacted at: [email protected]

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Sensory Marketing the Multi-sensory Brand-experience Concept

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